Navigating Contact Zones in 21st Century Schools: Creative Identity Development in Two Complex Transcultural Spaces

This article describes the experiences and the creative identity development of A., an 11-year-old bicultural and bilingual boy who attended school in two different cultural contact zones (CCZs), in South Africa and Germany. The study is anchored in a single case qualitative research paradigm and follows an ethnographic approach by using qualitative interviews, observation and field notes. Findings show A.’s identity development within the two CCZs. The article discusses how A. develops creatively to manage himself in the different CCZs by focusing on expanding or minimizing selected identity parts to create “safe zones”. It concludes that to grow within the two school environments, identity needs to be developed creatively and flexibly in correspondence with the schools’ approaches t o diversity.